


The Secret Ingredient

by krycekasks, TrishArgh



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, M/M, Stucky Christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 12:38:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13077042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krycekasks/pseuds/krycekasks, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrishArgh/pseuds/TrishArgh
Summary: Steve tries to figure out the secret ingredient in Bucky’s formula for holiday chocolate.





	The Secret Ingredient

**Author's Note:**

  * For [littleblackfox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleblackfox/gifts).



> A Christmas gift to The Littleblackfox with (soooooo much) love from krycek and FrauArgh

**Luis & Scott**

Steve starts with the two he thinks are the most vulnerable, especially when it comes to a free lunch.

“Nah man, that shit is a straight up mystery.” Luis expertly shifts his Jarrito pop bottle to hang from the fingers on the hand holding the rapidly diminishing plate of tacos. He scoops up another taco and continues while chewing, “You gotta keep a little mystery in a relationship, brah, even one that’s lasted for like a thousand years like yours. How many candles did he have on his birthday cake this year, Scott?”  
   Scott awkwardly holds his plate up to his mouth and tries to drag his taco in with his teeth. He looks up at Steve and says around his food, “Sorry dude, I couldn’t even count ‘em, they all blurred together in one giant inferno. All I remember was that freaky Stark-alarm system going off from all the smoke after you blew ‘em out with your super-serum lung power. That was awesome, by the way.”  
   Luis takes a swig from his drink and cuts Steve off before he can respond with characteristic sarcasm to the simultaneous jab at his old age and praise of his physical ability, “Like I said, a little bit of mystery keeps the spice in the relaciones, ya know? Ask my abuelita, she’ll tell you. She’ll beat it into your head with her huaraches but the message is still the same.”  
   Steve nods and Luis seems satisfied that he’s going to drop his investigation, but his mind has wandered _...Of course, spice …_

**Nat, Clint & Lucky**

Next, he goes with the two he thinks will be his toughest customers: the spy and the elusive archer. Turns out the dog is the only one who has any useful information.

Nat tightens her lips and narrows her eyes at him, levelling him with her patented “this may be the last look you ever see, ever” look. It lasts only a second before she bursts into a fit of giggles, uselessly doubling over and crashing into Lucky. The dog just licks her cheek which only makes her laugh harder.  
   Clint, bleary eyed and more disheveled than usual, which is saying quite a lot, raises a steaming cup of coffee to his mouth and takes a long sip. “Forgive her. We’ve been up for almost 72 hours on mission and she’s been downing those Asgardian energy drinks for the last 36. This coffee here is the only thing bringing me back down to Earth long enough to form words, so, thanks man. But you know ‘Tasha. If it doesn’t taste like you’re being smoked from the inside out, then forget about it.” Clint takes another long sip of coffee and blinks slowly up at Steve, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What was the question?”  
   Steve is already regretting the 3 bucks he spent on the coffee when Lucky starts dancing around his knees and nosing at his hand. He holds it out for the dog to sniff, which he does voraciously. Steve’s about to give him a scratch behind the ear when Lucky suddenly turns away and sneezes all over Nat and Clint. Of course, this just sets Nat off into that kind of silent hysterical laughing fit that gives you stitches. Steve is too distracted by what Lucky had done, sniffing and sneezing _… like getting a nose full of pepper…_ that he doesn’t have time to be grossed out by Clint chiding the dog for slobbering in his coffee yet finishing it off regardless. If he stopped to think about it, the high five those two sneaky little work-a-holics give each other as he walks away would be suspicious, but he’s too busy thinking _… my nose did kinda tickle when Buck gave me that sampler..._

__

**Bruce & Tony**

If anyone could figure out the mystery ingredient it would have to be the science boys.

Bruce looks up at him over the rim of his reading glasses, “Pepper? Like black pepper? Wouldn’t that give it kind of a bite? I mean, after I have a piece I get more of a smooth linger on the back, no front...well all over the tongue.” He waves his hands around in front of his mouth and just about knocks over the test tube of effervescent blue liquid on the lab bench in front of him when Steve reaches out with his “blink and you’ll miss it” reflexes.  
   A whistle of appreciation can be heard from far down the lab bench. Bruce looks back down at his lab book while addressing the whistler, “Tony, what do you think? We all know how you like to have your little theories.”  
   Tony ambles closer with an affronted hand held to his chest, “Little theories? Little? To the uneducated they may seem ‘little’. To those in the know, they are ‘elegant’. Something the Big Guy wouldn’t know anything about.” He ignores Bruce’s scoff and turns to Steve, “Well, it’s spice without being bite-y or spice-y per se. The obvious choice would be cinnamon, but! It can’t be cinnamon. Why? Because, A, that would be too obvious and despite the huge shiny arm, your Murder Boy is nothing if not subtle. And B, this is important, I don’t like cinnamon. However, I do eat a lot of the Winter Chocolatier’s holiday product. I mean, a lot. Pepper has to hide it from me. In my own home. Jarvis helps her. I’d hate them both, if I didn’t, you know, love them with all of my glowing nuclear heart.”  
   Bruce looks at him like he’s more than a little peeved, “You don’t like cinnamon? Who doesn’t like cinnamon?!” Tony takes a step back and Steve thinks it’s a good moment to leave the room.

**Thor & Loki**

He finds his last resort at the park down by the corner playing chess with the prisoner, a.k.a. his brother.

“I just assumed it was cinnamon. I have dined from the highest tables of royal banquets to the humblest cottages of all the peoples across the nine realms, and as such I have a deep breadth of taste. You look disappointed, Steven. Am I wrong?”  
   “It’s not cinnamon. Tony doesn’t like it.” Steve sets his hands on his hips and stares at the game board between the Asgardian brothers.  
   Thor just nods like it makes perfect sense, while Loki examines his nails, exuding boredom in such a way that makes Steve want to bark at him to get off his sorry ass and go dig a trench _...I’ll speak to Hill, he should be on latrine duty..._ Steve just crosses his arms over his chest and looks down at the Demi-god expectantly. Eventually Loki looks up, “What? Oh my deepest apologies, I was not paying attention to your petty earth-drivel. What could possibly be so important to justify interrupting my supervised outdoor time on this drab, dirt smeared prison planet.”  
   Thor just lets out a bark of laughter and snaps off a piece of chocolate that he has pulled out from within his cape, reminding Steve of the old vaudeville magicians, “I’ll wager you ten minutes with the tesseract that you cannot discern what the good Buchanan Barnes has put into this sweet to make it so delectable.”  
Unable to resist a challenge, Loki takes a bite of the chocolate and immediately his visage of haughty superiority bursts into incredulity as he looks between his brother and Steve with wide, wondering eyes, “That’s really fucking good. What is that flavour? Cinnamon?”  
   Steve closes his eyes and draws in a deep breath for an ounce of patience that never comes. He spins on his heel, throws his hands in the air and concedes defeat.

**Bucky**

“Did’ya figure it out yet?” Bucky knows it’s him before he’s even entered the room. He always knows. He definitely knows way more than Steve and is real good at keeping it that way, which is what had set off this whole wild goose chase to begin with.  
   He slouches behind Bucky, pushes his bottom lip out in a pout and angles his eyebrows so that he looks as much like a sad puppy as possible. He lets out a pathetic, “Noooo...”  
   Bucky, ever wise to his attempts at manipulation, looks over his shoulder and grins knowingly ...the jerk! He goes a step further and flips his hair over his shoulder, inclining his head to the side, exposing the smooth bow of his neck in the process. All this while continually working the temperamental dark chocolate on the marble kitchen surface without skipping a beat. Steve is helpless as he smooths his hands along Bucky’s waist and dips his head to lay a kiss just below his ear. He can feel Bucky’s grin grow wider as Steve trails light kisses down along his skin, nosing the shirt collar out of the way so he can get to the curve of Bucky’s shoulder, “I’m just going to have to seduce the knowledge out of you.”  
   Bucky tilts his head back slightly giving Steve more room to explore. “You can certainly try.” If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t be allowed to get near enough. But, if there is one, solitary truth that Steve knows, without doubt, it’s that Bucky loves him, and by extension, loves his touch. And Steve can make that love sing, make him keen with need for it. So he tries that now, slipping his fingers under Buck’s shirt to skirt along his stomach while simultaneously sliding his lips back up and over the nape of his neck. He feels Bucky’s hum through the points of contact, cutting through the back and forth scrape as he cools the chocolate to the perfect temperature. Suddenly, Bucky stops his work and starts to spin around as Steve slides his arms up to encircle him. Steve can’t help the dreamy look he gives his best guy as Buck smiles at him like he’s some kind of goddam miracle. Steve’s about to lean in for a kiss when Buck holds up a metal finger between them, dark and glistening, covered in rich, creamy chocolate.  
   Bucky raises his eyebrow in challenge, “Want to take another guess?”  
   Steve is way beyond caring what the mystery formula is that makes Bucky’s recipe for holiday chocolate so damn good. For all he knows it’s Bucky himself enfusing all that goodness inside into everything he makes. He takes Bucky’s finger into his mouth and slides his tongue the along the pad until _...there it is…_ Bucky lets out a moan he just can’t keep to himself. Steve lets Bucky pull out slowly before he crashes their mouths together in a hungry kiss _...there’s the secret ingredient..._


End file.
